Ekuru Aukot: A man from a place Kenya forgot

He may have been catapulted to fame through his work at the Committee of Experts on Constitution Review but EKURU AUKOT’S main passion is advocating for the rights of minority groups. He spoke to PETER MUIRURI

"As a pastoralist from Turkana, who am I and where are my nationality and citizenship? I am primarily known as a Kenyan because I hold a Kenyan passport. Yet I am a member of a group that is spread across at least four countries. So where is my real nationality, my citizenship, my state?"

This is the passion with which Dr Ekuru Aukot describes the harsh reality that confronts nomadic communities that have to crisscross man-made regional borders almost every day, risking life and limb, in search of water and pasture for their livestock.

Life in the vast, arid Turkana County is not for the fainthearted. Ekuru is a living example of how tribal conflicts over scanty resources can transform an individual.

EKURU AUKOT [Photo: Standard]

"My father, Mzee Aukot Tarkus, was polygamous and had 27 children. Imagine a young Ekuru growing up in such a family — and in an area where it is a daily struggle for a single child to stay alive. Yet, due to hard work and determination, I was the first in the Aukot family to join university," says Ekuru, who went to six different primary schools due to frequent nomadic conflicts. He eventually graduated with a Law degree from the University of Nairobi.

To many Kenyans, Ekuru is the urbane, articulate and firm lawyer catapulted to national fame through his work as the director of the defunct Committee of Experts on Constitution Review. He is also chair of the selection panel headhunting members of a new electoral body, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

High-office appointments

Ekuru is also a special advisor to the new Government of South Sudan’s Ministry of Defense.

Even with the high office appointments, Ekuru has been one of the foremost advocates for the rights of the minority groups such as refugees, IDPs and marginalised communities, especially those from the northern part of the country.

"People from Turkana or Pokot do not think they are part of this country. They will always ask you how Kenya is after telling them that you have just come from Kitale. They will get a fright if you mention Nairobi," says Ekuru.

This perception stems from the way they are treated by people from ‘Kenya’. Ekuru remembers an incident when he went for a job interview after graduating from the University of Nairobi in 1997. A prospective employer who could hardly believe it when he heard that Ekurut is a graduate quipped in jest: "Wewe kijana unatoka Turkana na uko na degree. Umejaribu sana." (Young man, you mean you come from Turkana and you are a graduate! That’s no mean fit).

Ekuru, who was admitted to the bar in 1999, says things were no different when he came back to Kenya armed with a PhD in International Refugee Law from the University of Warwick in the UK.

Discriminated against

"This time round I could not get a job because many now thought I was overqualified at only 32 years of age. It was discrimination since someone from the proper geographic location holding similar qualifications did get the job," says he.

Noticing how passionate he is when discussing issues pertaining to the ‘other Kenya’, I ask him if the new Constitution will adequately address such aspects of negative ethnicity.

"There is nothing wrong in one belonging to any particular tribe, big or small. However, one of the objectives of the devolved government is to protect and promote the interests of minorities and other marginalised communities. It will be a right and not a favour for Turkana and other such areas to have better roads and educational facilities like other parts of the republic. Gone are the days when such development was meant to buy votes in the marginalised areas," he says.

Ekuru believes these arid and semi arid areas have a lot to contribute in terms of economy.

"There are virgin resources in my home area such as solar, wind and geothermal energy. If properly exploited, they can make the whole of northern Kenya self sufficient in terms of energy. Such measures will ensure that there is enough power to sink many boreholes and thus reduce the many conflicts in the region, most of which are sparked off by fights over the current meagre resources," he says.

He cites his role in the Committee of Experts as one of his most daunting tasks. "Politicians from every corner of the country saw the review as a shopping basket to throw in their own self interests. This gave rise to the so-called contentious issues. We had the unenviable task of sorting out all the excess baggage and coming up with a draft acceptable to majority of Kenyans."

He wishes Kenyan leaders were like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi who suffered without bitterness and gave back to society without expecting special treatment.

While not officially engaged, the father of two likes discovering new places of interest within the country.